Communication between people has been a main social event ever since the invention of the telephone eliminated spatial limits of communication—tremendously enhanced by the subsequent introduction of the Internet. Whereas communication via telephone generally continues to be delimited to a person-to-person contact, technical means for the internet and related networks created platforms for open communication between groups of people and even between an almost unlimited number of participants. And in contrast to the traditional technique of broadcasting (radio, television and the like), communication through the modern networks works bi-directionally. One known general tool for technically offering such multi-partner multi-directional communication is commonly known as a “chat room”.
To return to a more general, historical level, one main purpose of communication was and still is of a draw comparison, in the broad range of meaning of that word. In ancient times, men may have stepped towards each other saying “my axe is stronger than yours, beware” whereas in modern times, they may say “my car is faster than yours” by way of example in a particular technical context, “energy storage means A is more efficient than energy storage means B and is thus more appropriate for the energy supply of your machine being under construction”.
Nowadays, information is available to an extent that is impossible to be overlooked. This statement may now be a platitude and a commonplace—but it has a very interesting broader sense of meaning in the present context: Whereas in former times of communication information was available from person to person only, information today is available automatically—as being stored in whatever kind of data storage means. Availability and accessibility vary extremely according to respective purposes. But having the according permission, the initial statement does not mean anything else but: communication in modern networks is not only possible multi-directionally, but also involving human beings as well as machines.